The Story of Jewish Learning Partnerships Across the Seas

Beyond Borders: Partnering to Study Torah

Meryl and Kale Abrams at Kalae's Bar Mitzvah

by Ashira Weiss

June 13, 2018

When Meryl Abrams of Princeville, Kauai was preparing for her son’s bar mitzvah last year, she reached out for support from over 5,000 miles away. “I needed someone to teach him, so I asked Malka if she could help,” says Meryl.

Malka Phillips is her weekly study partner. She was paired up with Meryl through the JNet study program, led by Rabbi Yehuda Dukes. Living in Brooklyn, NY, Malka is one of 10,000 study partners from 81 countries who study Torah on the phone in approximately 8 different languages.

They began with discussing the weekly Torah portion but the two have become more than just study partners. When Meryl’s daughter Talia visited New York for the annual CTeen Shabbaton, she was hosted by Malka and when Malka’s travels brought her to Hawaii, she and Meryl finally met in person.

So when her youngest son, Kalae needed help writing his bar mitzvah speech, Meryl instinctively consulted Malka. Malka in turn, suggested they find Kalae his own study partner and that’s how, for the past year, Mondays in the Abrams’ home finds Kalae and Zack Gilbert Burke studying on the phone. “Sometimes it’s just fifteen minutes, but it’s always good to learn something new about my religion,” says Kalae.

On Sunday, JNet Torah study partners from around the world were honored with a dinner and award ceremony celebrating each others’ commitments to Torah study. Meryl and Kalae recorded a video appreciation for Zack, who was this year’s featured member.

Rabbi Dukes encouraged participants to advance their learning. “We celebrate our accomplishments, but we are always reaching for more.”

I am not sure that my children knowing about Jewish ritual, history and lore will make them better people, and yet a part of me feels they should have it in their lives. How can I make it relevant to them? The Torah begins with the creation story, and it is really a story lived by every human being, every day.

It’s got one of the most senior populations in the country. But growing up in Venice, Florida, the children of Chabad representatives are bringing new life to the city’s elderly. In the process, they learn to relate with compassion and kindness.

On their first wedding anniversary, next month, Rabbi Mendy and Menucha Blank will be moving to the S. Francisco Bay area to open Chabad of Emeryville. It’s an up-and-coming commercial city, headquarters to companies like Pixar and LeapFrog, nestled between Oakland and Berkeley and directly across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Today in Jewish History, the passing of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Levi Yitzchak Schneerson (1878-1944), father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. After being arrested by Soviet authorities and interrogated for his activism on behalf of the Jewish community, he was sentenced to five years of exile and sent to Chi’ili, Kazakhstan, in the remote Aqtobe region in Central Asia. He passed away in Almaty, Kazakhstan, physically weakened by the hardship of his exile

Chabad's Rabbi Ruvi New shared his 10-year battle to build a synagogue at the U.S. Department of Justice event Religious Liberty: Our First Freedom and Why it Matters. Opening remarks were made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, after which Rabbi New and a panel of religious leaders examined the state of religious justice in the United States.

The countercultural movement of the sixties and seventies was the segue to a period of great spiritual ferment. Inspired by the zeitgeist, young Jewish rebels struck out in search of their own truth. Outriders of the baal-teshuvah movement, Meir and Miriam Rhodes reflect on their life journey.

It’s a long way from Sweden’s cold winters where Rabbi Berel Namdar grew up. He and his wife Tzivia, originally from Tennessee, are moving to Singer Island, Florida, where they will be opening Chabad of Singer Island and the Beaches, the 18th center in the Palm Beach area.

Prison reform is a buzzword among politicians and lawmakers, but one rabbi who can report on the efficacy of rehabilitation from within, says the impact cannot be overstated. “A prisoner’s existence is painful, but these guys are on fire with the idea that by looking for opportunities to give they can choose to live.”

On their first wedding anniversary, next month, Rabbi Mendy and Menucha Blank will be moving to the S. Francisco Bay area to open Chabad of Emeryville. It’s an up-and-coming commercial city, headquarters to companies like Pixar and LeapFrog, nestled between Oakland and Berkeley and directly across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Mussi Sharfstein | Thursday, August 2

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